Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H.: "Doorway to Destruction"Review

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It's Hulk without the pathos.

By Jesse Schedeen

Warning: full episode spoilers follow.

With the debut of Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H., Disney XD's animated Marvel lineup has now grown to three series. One would think Marvel and Disney would want to prioritize a new X-Men or Fantastic Four series before expanding the Avengers lineup, but then again, Hulk is a very bankable character in the wake of last year's Avengers movie. Agents of S.M.A.S.H. breaks Hulk away from the Avengers and thrusts him into a new team comprised entirely of similarly gamma-powered heroes in a concept not unlike Greg Pak's Incredible Hulks comic series from a few years ago. Sadly, Agents of S.M.A.S.H. didn't manage to reproduce much of that book's appeal in this one-hour premiere.

Essentially, Agents of S.M.A.S.H. suffers from most of the same problems that tend to plague Ultimate Spider-Man on a weekly basis. The series emphasizes slapstick humor at the expense of pretty much everything else. There are frequent cutaway gags and instances of fourth-wall breakage. Rick Jones' cameras pave the way for recurring Real World-style "confessions." In the first half of the premiere alone, I counted at least five different variations of the gag where Hulk offers up a deadpan reaction to being imminently crushed by some large object. At one point in this premiere, the show even delved straight into Loony Tunes territory. There's nothing wrong with exploring the comedic side of being a Marvel superhero, but there needs to be more dramatic weight forming the foundation of the series. Agents of S.M.A.S.H. offers little sense of drama and no real stakes.

Which is odd, considering that Hulk is one of the most dramatic and emotional characters in Marvel's lineup. He's the man who morphed into a monster and became an outcast. But one of the quirks of Marvel's recent Avengers animation is that the various shows only rarely acknowledge the fact that Hulk even has a human alter ego now. Agents of S.M.A.S.H. perpetuates the idea that being a Hulk involves little more than making wisecracks, smashing monsters, and scarfing down some barbecue at the end of the day. There's none of the pathos or self-loathing you'd expect from Hulk. Again, lighthearted fun has its place, but there has to be a limit with this franchise.

In terms of characterization, most of the team members felt odd in one way or another. Hulk himself is portrayed as being much more verbose and intelligent than he has been on Avengers Assemble. No doubt the writers felt it a necessary shift with Hulk now being the star of the show. And it falls in line with the character's constantly evolving intelligence in the comics over the years. But it also makes you wonder how Marvel will handle the inevitable crossover episodes. Red Hulk has been recast from an antagonist who retains his career-long feud with Hulk to a jarhead sidekick with delusion of celebrity. She-Hulk is portrayed not as the confident lawyer who found a life beyond being a Hulk, but an adrenaline junkie and stunt pilot.

Worst of all, though, is Rick Jones, a.k.a. A-Bomb. Jones was responsible for much of the worst humor and dialogue in this premiere. He's just a generally obnoxious character in human or A-Bomb form. Seth Green's grating vocal work really didn't help, either. What works for Family Guy and Robot Chicken doesn't work for Hulk. Oddly, I wasn't thrilled with Clancy Brown as Red Hulk or even Marvel veteran Fred Tatasciore either. As great as Brown was as uber-villain Lex Luthor, his voice doesn't really suit Red Hulk is his newly goofy incarnation. As for Tatasciore, his Hulk is more convincing on Assemble, where he's limited to short, terse lines rather than these extended conversations.

The Agents of S.M.A.S.H. premiere only really delivered on a purely visceral level. At least the series lived up to its name in terms of the copious amounts of smashing and brawling and bug-slaying. In particular, the brawl between Hulk, Red Hulk, and Skaar in the first half stood out. The two episodes didn't even confine the action to the ground, but gave the Hulks cannons and a sort of reverse-Voltron spaceship to play with. But even in this area, the premiere faltered in that it resorted to a number of visual tricks and gimmicks to cut corners. The frequent comic book-style panels were often used to create the illusion of motion during battle. That's what panels do in comic books - create the illusion of motion sequential flow. But the whole point of bringing superhero comics to animation is that you no longer have to settle for illusion.

Granted, there does appear to be some long-term potential in terms of exploring the new Hulk family dynamic. As weak and generic a villain as Annihilus was here (especially compared to his previous appearance on Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes), the Leader's last-minute reveal left a much stronger impression. It should be interesting to see how Skaar's conflicting loyalties play out and how much his mysterious origin is altered from the one established in the comics by Pak. But on the other hand, this premiere offered little incentive to stick around and find out.

As with Ultimate Spider-Man, Agents of S.M.A.S.H.'s most fundamental flaw is that it seems to be catered directly towards the boys 6-12 market at the expense of everyone else. And while it's that demographic that buys up the toys and video games and merchandise that keep shows like this afloat, there's no reason the show can't aim a little higher. Stan Lee himself has always been famous for pointing out that not only should comic writers not write down to younger readers, but younger readers don't want to be written down to in the first place. The fact that Lee made an extended cameo in this premiere only highlights the misguided approach Agents of S.M.A.S.H. has taken. Marvel has crafted another animated series with very limited adult appeal.

Mediocre

Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H. is a disappointing new addition to Disney XD's growing Marvel lineup.